AstroDan

On Ride / Off Ride Simulation posted by Nemesis94 on TTF tonight, Shows everything on the plans excluding the launch and any indoor area which is rumoured as part of the ride...

Th13teen had nothing... was a joke actually.Pouring with rain when it opened, no announcement, no nothing... just a stampede and then thousands of people saying it was xxxx poorQuality.

Am going to ride this on park from 2-4 April (and again in August!).So excited now! It's looking lovely and what I hear of the theming in the queue/station/plaza it's going to be superb!

After last years Annual Pass Day there is not a chance I am driving from the Midlands for it! Even if they announce changes! It's just too many miles to risk the farce of 2011.I am going to hold back till the first full weekend of opening.

I think we'll see a vertical launch on the ride, also.

I love the length. A good 2 halves both of which are at least 30 seconds.Hurrah!

The park, in terms of rides, is as above, easily achieved in one day. There isn't actually that much - Baco, Stampida, Tomahawk, Shambhala and Khan are essentials with the dire Mine Train also on offer. The water rides are all "OK" but nothing particularly special and Huracan Condor is great, too. I can't recall if the park has a bona fide dark ride - I don't think it does, although there is Templo del Fuego and some sort of simulator ride which I barely remember the details of!!The new ride is badly needed, it really is.

With the above 3 mentioned coasters (Wodan, Swarm and Oz'Iris) - they're going to be superb rides, but I can already have a good old presume about how they will feel, because they're manufactured by companies which, although brilliant, tend to have a certain comfort zone and sensation (by the way, that's not to say it's a bad thing at all).With Alton's development, it's a lot more "crazy" and "unknown" compared to those, and for that reason I find it very exciting. I just hope it turns out a considerably better ride than the likes of Saw and Huracan, and is more along the quality lines of Anubis, Dare Devil Dive or Fluch von Novgorod.

Actually, I would say most people are not under the impression that this is SW7. It certainly isn't what was the expected location for SW7.I have been in touch with Staffs Moorlands District Council, who have advised that these plans are not presently for public viewing.EDIT - it does now seem that this WILL be the site of Secret Weapon Seven, following a basic communication from Alton Towers to the local community.

I am going to EP from 29 December for a few days over New Year, and have arranged to meet up with one of the directors of the park so we can be shown the new coaster.If anybody has any burning questions about the ride that you'd like me to try and ask - let me know and I will be happy to do my best!As it stands, the ride looks beautiful! The hop over Atlantica is now more or less complete, too!

Well, obviously... just being helpful with the pronounciation and phonological spelling of the word.

Wodan has plenty of links to the theme of the ride too. In addition 'Timbur' is the ancient Icelandic word for Wood, which conviently sounds like 'timber' too.So it works both ways. :)EDIT - just noticed some people typing 'voo'dan - it's not, it is 'vo-darn'.

Research it on Wikipedia. Remember this is a German park, not looking to have English names on everything that would suit our tongues and dialects.

There is a fault with it - it's very short. But I can get over that if the experience is right, which it looks to be.Apart from that, looks great and seems to be continuing the good theming work Merlin have been doing with many of their recent coasters.

Being met with a positive reaction on German speaking forums, I give you... (the german "W" is pronounced like an English "V" - so this is something like vo-darn)

Cute video by Europaparkinsider of the parks Winter Event:

The pacing on that No Limits is amazing. If the ride actually holds up that sort of speed, we will be in for a treat.

Images of the Woodie and Hotel Bell Rock, both under construction for 2012:The park re-opens for Winter Season tomorrow, 26th November. It is open daily until Sunday, 8th January apart from closure on 24-25 December. Opening is 11:00 - 19:00.

Europa-Park's 2013 Dark Ride project was today approved by Rust Municipal Council.It will be a family experience linked to Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles" IP. It will be built in conjunction with a carousel and mini freefall tower ride and complete the Enchanted Forest area of the theme park.It is rumoured to be a dark ride with coaster sections, from Mack Rides. Potentially a suspended powered coaster.It is part 2 of the parks €50million/£43million investment over the 2012 and 2013 seasons in the theme park.

Alton is just around 32,000. Although over 30,000 they start finding it hard to operate the car parks effectively.Friday at AT was 10,000Saturday at AT was 27,000Sunday at AT was 17,000:)

Regarding Alton hotels pricing.Well a room next Friday, with my Annual Pass, is coming in at £68. So it's not so bad. That's for 4 too!(Just don't mention Saturday nights during the theme park season!)

If Thorpe are really limiting attendance to 8,000 for fireworks, why do they even bother putting it on?Alton had a combined attendance of 54,000 over 3 days. Thorpe, surely they'd probably get a fair few thousand on a normal day!

This is also a major reason why PortAventura is, along with Disney, pretty much the only household name European theme park in the UK. It's always hot. It's always sunny. And it's near beaches.Sadly the sheer number of Brits abroad at the park don't really boost it for me.I certainly could not spend 1 week at the park.I do like the Water Park, though.

Unfortunately, humans do not bounce.

I visited PortAventura in August 2009 and spent 3 days at the park (which was too much).PortAventura is not the best park in Europe. They have a very poor selection of rollercoasters, and barely any dark rides. This alone makes it far below what can be found in other parks. The area theming and park shows are up there with the very best. Equally, their investment levels are not as high as you might like to think - the last major attraction added was Furius Baco. This is some years ago now.Compared with Phantasialand, Europa-Park, Disneyland Paris, Efteling and (I make no bones about this) Alton Towers, I don't really find the park on a level - ASIDE from area theming and shows. The rides are just not good enough. Equally, there is a lot of graffiti across some areas which simply does not happen in most major parks. Tutuki Splash and Stampida were the worst. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely place to wander around and the weather helps a heck of a lot - and I am delighted they're adding a 2nd decent coaster for 2012 which looks BRILLIANT... but for now, sorry - it just isn't right up there.Rob - you been to EP?